If you’ve ever been to a sporting event, you’ve probably held your breath, closed your eyes, and had the shared human experience of using a porta potty. But behind this unglamorous, stomach-turning necessity are the companies and people responsible for supplying and cleaning them, especially on NFL gamedays. Ryan Hockensmith traveled to Orchard Park for a Buffalo Bills game and tailgate, and went behind-the-scenes with a sanitation company on a typical Sunday. He shares his reporting with us, and takes us inside the industry: the sights, sounds, smells, and sucks of porta potties.

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Kyrie Irving is expected to play his first game of the season for the Brooklyn Nets tonight, after missing 35 games because he is not vaccinated for Covid-19. New York City has a vaccine mandate, meaning Irving is prohibited from playing home games in Brooklyn. But now, after initially saying they would not allow Irving to play part-time, the Nets have reversed course, and the team is allowing him to play on the road. ESPN’s Brooklyn Nets reporter Nick Friedell explains the Nets’ game plan, how they arrived at the decision to bring Kyrie back, and what the rest of Brooklyn’s season could look like with Irving playing only on the road. We also ask Nick about his past life covering the Golden State Warriors, and Klay Thompson’s impending comeback.

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Practice, practice, practice. The theory goes that with enough repetition, time, and hard work, anyone can become the master of their craft. The 10,000-Hour Rule was derived from performance research and then Malcolm Gladwell made it famous everywhere from sports to investing. But best-selling author David Epstein joins the show to put the theory to the test. He explains why the concept of 10,000. hours to mastery is so appealing, and so wrong.

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The NFL regular season is hurtling to a dramatic finish, as the playoff picture became clearer in Week 17. The Bengals and the Chiefs rang in the new year with fireworks from both offenses, culminating in a division-clinching, game-winning field goal for Cincinnati. Tom Brady showed us that he’s still Tom Brady. He led the Buccaneers to a comeback win over the Jets, after Antonio Brown suddenly fled the game. In the NFC West, Kyler Murray led the Cardinals to a win over the Cowboys, while Matthew Stafford overcame his first half struggles against the Ravens to lead the Rams to victory…with some help from a couple of LA’s mid-season acquisitions. Our Monday QB Alex Smith breaks down what he saw and gives insight on Baker Mayfield ahead of Monday Night Football’s matchup between the Steelers and Browns.

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Two-time Olympic gold medalist Susan Francia's mother, Dr. Kate Karikó, has seen her lifelong work come to fruition in the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine. Dr. Karikó’s dedication to her research amidst adversity inspired her daughter, who became an elite rower and Olympian. In a re-air of one our favorite episodes, ESPN’s Julie Foudy once again takes us through the story of Dr. Karikó’s perseverance, her mRNA breakthroughs behind the vaccine, and the mother-daughter relationship at the center of the E:60 feature “What We’re Made Of.” 

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David Olson is a quiet, Midwestern father of three, living an ordinary life. That is until one day this summer, when doing some home renovation, he discovered some bowling balls buried under the steps leading to his backyard. And not just two, or three, or 10 or 20 bowling balls. In total, Olson uncovered a whopping 162 bowling balls from his property, and ended up going viral with his story. Where had the balls come from? How did they end up at Olson’s house? Ryan Hockensmith re-tells this stranger-than-fiction story of man’s unexpected discovery…and the unexpected way in which it ultimately transformed his life. 

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Bob Voulgaris turned his career as a professional, data-driven NBA bettor into a dream job when Mark Cuban made him Director of Quantitative Research and Analysis for the Dallas Mavericks. But tension built between Voulgaris and then-GM Donnie Nelson, and relationships with players got muddy. Reports in The Athletic this year claimed the former bettor was running the show behind the scenes in Dallas. Then, during the offseason, the GM, coach and Voulgaris all left the team. Today, we respin our October conversation with Bob Voulgaris––his first interview since leaving the Mavs.

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The Italian town of Bergamo is fiercely loyal to its soccer team, Atalanta B.C. As the perennial underdogs made a run to the Champions League 2020 quarterfinals, Atalanta drew tens of thousands of Bergamo fans to hug, cry, sing and celebrate for their win. No one knew then it was the last time they’d gather like that. Just as fans returned to their homes, Bergamo became an epicenter of coronavirus infection that led to thousands of deaths. Sam Borden tells the story of how a tight-knit culture and fandom made Bergamo vulnerable to the pandemic. And how that very closeness, along with the hope of cheering Atalanta again, offers a path forward from devastating loss.

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Cats made many cameos in sports in 2021, from a stray at Yankee Stadium to a dangling feline in Miami. But ESPN’s Liz Merrill has the original wild and twisting tale of the St. Louis Cardinals’ Rally Cat. When the kitten crawled onto the field during the bottom of the sixth in a 2017 game against the Kansas City Royals, Yadier Molina proceeded to hit a go-ahead grand slam on the very next pitch. Hear the story…once again…of the all-out search that followed for the Rally Cat, and the heated fight over where it should live.

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It’s one of the most infamous fan stories in sports history: when Eagles fans booed Santa at halftime of a game played at Franklin Field. But who was the Santa in question - and why was he booed and pelted with snowballs? As our annual ESPN Daily Christmas tradition, we re-air this episode featuring Outside the Lines’ Jeremy Schaap and Mina Kimes, and their reflection on the enduring legacy of the Philadelphia Santa.  

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